ST. GEORGE — Cloudbursts caused local flooding across Southern Utah Thursday afternoon and into Thursday evening as the annual monsoons continued to bring much-needed rain but also potentially dangerous conditions.

Throughout the afternoon, skies darkened and wind increased in advance of heavy rain in LaVerkin, Hurricane, Cedar City and Parowan, according to the weather service and several readers of St. George News and Cedar City News. The popular Weather Bug app indicated an abundance of lightning strikes in northern Washington County and across Iron County.

Storm systems stretched from northern Iron County clear south to Mesquite, Nevada, where a cell dumped rain and wind hammered eastern Nevada and the Arizona strip just before 9 p.m. MDT.

Earlier in the evening, Stephanie Goodfellow, a freelance photographer and weather enthusiast who lives in LaVerkin, said she welcomed the rain, writing in a text to St. George News, “It’s pouring buckets. It’s wonderful.”

Goodfellow also said she was keeping an eye on the storm to ensure it didn’t “circle back around” as it had on Wednesday night. Referring to the previous evening’s thunderstorm, she said, “Lightning hit a transformer and knocked out power from our house to Toquerville … for two hours.”

The National Weather Service issued a flood warning for Washington, Iron, Garfield and Kane counties at 12:23 p.m. Thursday, cautioning the public that “flooding caused by thunderstorms producing heavy rainfall continues to be possible … Excessive runoff may result in flash flooding of slot canyons, normally dry washes, slickrock areas and other low-lying and flood-prone locations.”

The warning, which extends through Friday evening, also includes Capitol Reef National Park and vicinity, Glen Canyon Recreation Area/Lake Powell, South Central Utah, Western Canyonlands, Lower Washington County and Zion National Park.

At 7:51 p.m. MDT, the NWS issued a severe thunderstorm warning for north central Mohave County in northern Arizona, including northeastern Clark County in southern Nevada. The storm system was moving southwest at 20 mph, with winds expected to be up to 60 mph.

Nick Yamashita, a St. George News reporter who was in Mesquite on Thursday evening, confirmed the storm was producing severe winds.

The Arizona Department of Transportation also issued a closure alert on southbound Interstate 15 as a result of a crash at mile maker 15, about 10 miles from the Nevada state line, near Littlefield.

“Motorists are advised to expect delays and postpone non-essential travel at this time,” ADOT reported on its website. “There is no estimated time to reopen the southbound lanes. The northbound lanes are unaffected.”

And according to the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page, much of the northern Arizona county was experiencing power outages, and areas might night have power restored until sometime Friday.

Monsoon-type weather is expected for Southern Utah, the Arizona strip and eastern Nevada through the weekend.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration defines the monsoon as follows:

The North American Monsoon is a seasonal change in the atmospheric circulation that occurs as the summer sun heats the continental land mass. During much of the year, the prevailing wind over northwestern Mexico, Arizona, and New Mexico is westerly and dry … As the summer heat builds over North America, a region of high pressure forms over the U.S. Southwest, and the wind becomes more southerly, bringing moisture from the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of California. This circulation brings thunderstorms and rainfall to the monsoon region, providing much of their annual total precipitation.

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